Status and mission operations of the SPRITE 12U CubeSat: a probe of star formation feedback from stellar to galactic scales with far-UV imaging spectroscopy

Indahl, Briana; Fleming, Brian; Vorobiev, Dmitry; Chafetz, Dana; Williams, Jack; Bowen, Maitland; Brening, Diane; Borthakur, Sanchayeeta; Del Hoyo, Javier G.; DeWitt, Destry; Diaz, Adriana; Durell, Abigail; Foehr, Ben; France, Kevin; Gopinathan, Sreejith; Hennessy, John J.; Jaskot, Anne; Kaiser, Michael J.; Koehler, Sydney; Magruder, Adam; Martin, Adrian; McCandliss, Stephan R.; O'Meara, John; Quijada, Manuel A.; Rodríguez-de Marcos, Luis V.; Rutkowski, Michael; Sankrit, Ravi; Sico, Alex; Siegmund, Oswald H. W.; Szewczyk, Daniel; Tumlinson, Jason; Ulrich, Stefan

doi:10.1117/12.2677737

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 29 publications

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“…SPRITE is currently in the integration and testing phase of its development. 1 SPRITE is being built to accomplish three primary goals: 1) performing high sensitivity observations in the vacuum UV of processes that drive the mass/energy cycles in galaxies; 2) advance the technology readiness level of novel optical coatings for upcoming NASA missions, like the Habitable Worlds Observatory; 3) provide training opportunities for scientists and engineers, who will lead the development of missions and instruments in the coming decades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication and testing of high fill-factor solar panels for SPRITE CubeSat

Diaz,

Vorobiev,

Indahl

et al. 2023

UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIII

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SPRITE is a NASA far-UV telescope and spectrograph being designed and assembled at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). SPRITE’s mission is UV astrophysics in the 1000 - 1750 Angstroms spectral regime. SPRITE will observe low-redshift galaxies, as well as supernova remnants in the Milky Way. SPRITE’s complex science payload is extremely constrained by the volume allocation of the 12U CubeSat form factor. Our solution to deal with SPRITE's volume constraints, is to fabricate solar panels with a high fill factor. With only three deployable single-hinge panels and one body-mounted panel, SPRITE is able to generate 8.5 to 9.7 Watts of power when fully illuminated, using 45 Azur Space AG30A solar cell assemblies. SPRITE is currently finishing the integration and testing phase of its program, with a launch manifested for August 2024.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication and testing of high fill-factor solar panels for SPRITE CubeSat

Diaz,

Vorobiev,

Indahl

et al. 2023

UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIII

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SmallSat Technology Accelerated Maturation Platform-1: a proposal to advance ultraviolet science, workforce, and technology for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

France,

Tumlinson,

Fleming

et al. 2024

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Great Observatories Maturation Program (GOMAP) will advance the science definition, technology, and workforce needed for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) with the goal of a phase A start by the end of the current decade. GOMAP offers long-term cost and schedule savings compared with the "technology readiness level (TRL) 6 by preliminary design review" paradigm historically adopted by large NASA missions. Many of the key technologies in the development queue for HWO require the combined activities of (1) facility and process development for validation of technologies at the scale required for HWO and (2) deployment in the "real-world" environment of mission integration and test prior to on-orbit operations. We present a concept for the SmallSat Technology Accelerated Maturation Platform (STAMP), an integrated facility, laboratory, and instrument prototype development program that could be supported through the GOMAP framework and applied to any of NASA's future Great Observatories (FGOs). This brief describes the recommendation for the first entrant into this program, "SmallSat Technology Accelerated Maturation Platform-1 (STAMP-1)," an ESPA Grande-class mission advancing key technologies to enable the ultraviolet capabilities of HWO. STAMP-1 would advance new broadband optical coatings, high-sensitivity ultraviolet detector systems, and multi-object target selection technology to TRL 6 with a flight demonstration. STAMP-1 advances HWO technology on an accelerated timescale, building on current research opportunities in space and earth sciences (ROSES) strategic astrophysics technology (SAT) + astrophysics research and analysis (APRA) programs, reducing cost and schedule risk for HWO while conducting a compelling program of preparatory science and workforce development with direct benefits for HWO mission implementation in the 2030s.

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Observing modes of the SPRITE 12U CubeSat: a probe of star formation feedback with far-UV imaging spectroscopy

O'Sullivan,

Fleming,

Indahl

et al. 2024

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

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SPRITE (Supernova Remnants and Proxies for Reionization Testbed Experiment) is a 12U CubeSat mission funded by NASA and led by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The payload will house the first sub-arcminute resolution Far-Ultraviolet (FUV) long-slit spectrograph with access to the Lyman UV (912 − 1216 Å), enabled by new enhanced lithium fluoride coatings and an ultra-low-noise photon-counting microchannel plate (MCP) detector. The scientific mission has two main components: constraining the escape fraction of ionizing Lyman-Continuum (LyC) radiation from low-redshift galaxies (0.14 ≤ z ≤ 0.4) and measuring feedback from nearby star forming regions and supernova remnants. Enabling the scientific mission are two distinct observing modes. For the faintest sources, we will operate the MCP detector in photon-counting mode. For brighter sources, we will operate the MCP in an accumulation / integration mode. For extended sources we will collate multiple pointings of the long slit, stepping across the field of view in a 'push broom' mapping to create 3D spectroscopic cubes. SPRITE will also take weekly calibration data to characterize the degradation of the coatings and detector. We present these observing modes along with the data acquisition and processing pipeline required to enable scientific analysis on the ground.

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Status and mission operations of the SPRITE 12U CubeSat: a probe of star formation feedback from stellar to galactic scales with far-UV imaging spectroscopy

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

Fabrication and testing of high fill-factor solar panels for SPRITE CubeSat

Fabrication and testing of high fill-factor solar panels for SPRITE CubeSat

SmallSat Technology Accelerated Maturation Platform-1: a proposal to advance ultraviolet science, workforce, and technology for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Observing modes of the SPRITE 12U CubeSat: a probe of star formation feedback with far-UV imaging spectroscopy

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